A P H U M A N G E O G RA P H Y — M I N I C H

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

DEFINING A STATE• Definition: defined territories,

permanent population, fully independent (sovereign)• Country=state

• History• States have existed for

thousands of years.• “City-States” • Empires • Modern concept—dates back to

Europe in the 17th-19th centuries• As of 1950 only about 50 recognized

independent countries; now nearly 200 (and more coming)• Antarctica—only large piece of land

not controlled by a state • Difficulty of Definition• Western Sahara, Taiwan, KoreaPeace of Westphalia

(1648)—Thirty Years’ War

“SYRIAN CONFLICT”

1. Explain the origin of modern Middle Eastern borders according to Rice.

2. What does Rice mean by “sectarian allegiances?”

3. Explain where you see the concept of Balkanization in the editorial.

4. What does she mean by the “Middle East state system?”

5. What is the former Secretary’s proposed solution? Why?

ETHNICITY AND NATIONALISM• Nationality• Nationalism

• Nation-State• Self-determination• Perfect Examples?

• Multi-ethnic state• Multi-national state• UK, Lebanon, Austro-Hungarian

• Part-Nation State• Examples: Kurds, Arabs• “Stateless nation”

• Shatter Belt• Punjab

• Centrifugal vs. Centripetal • Examples?

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY: CONFLICT

• Balkanization• Centrifugal Forces• Religion

• Catholicism, Orthodox, Islam• Ethnicity• Language

• Roman vs. Cyrillic• Centripetal Forces• Political

• Austro-Hungarians• Yugoslavia (1991)

• Ethnic Cleansing• Genocide• “Greater Serbia”• Kosovo (1999)

DIFFICULTY OF DEFINING STATE: TAIWAN

• State???• Technically part of China• Used to be called “Formosa”

• Terms:• China = People’s Republic of China (PRC)• Taiwan = Republic of China (ROC)

• Cold War Division—• 1949, non-communists (Chiang

Kai-shek) fled to island• Claimed independence from China• US supports Taiwan, but says they are all China

• Very industrialized; GDP per capita= 4-5x of China

Other Territorial Disputes• East China Sea Air Defense Zone

• Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (China and Japan) • Spratly Islands (China, Vietnam, and

Philippines)

DIFFICULTY OF DEFINING STATE: NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA

History• 1895 – 1945• Japan

• 38th parallel• NK = Communist (USSR)• SK = Democracy (US)

• 1950: Korean War• 36,500 US military killed• Cease-fire 1953

• DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)• 2½ miles wide• 38,000 US personnel

NORTH KOREA

• Development:• South Korean economy—24x North Korean GDP

• Dynasty—• Kim Il Sung “Great Leader”• Kim Jong Il “Dear Leader”• Kim Jong Un

• Atrocities: Camp 14• “3 Generations of

punishment”

STATE EXPANSION

• Colonization• Causes—correlation with demographic transition model?• Today: ie. “territories, overseas dependencies, subnational

entities, in free association, or special administrative regions”

Most of the remaining colonies are small islands in the Pacific or Caribbean.

STATE EXPANSION: GEOPOLITICAL MODELS

• Sea Power Theory• Alfred Mahan (US, 1880s)• Control of sea lanes would lead to national

power• Organic Theory of States• Friedrich Ratzel (German, 1901) • Lebensraum—expansion was a sign of

health• Heartland Theory• Halford Mackinder (British, 1904) • Eurasian heartland would be the center of

a land based empire (ie. Eastern Europe and Russia)

• Rimland Theory • Nicholas Spykman (US, 1942)• Rimland not the heartland was the key (ie.

China, Europe, Japan, India, Middle East)• Evolved into US Containment Policy,

“Balance of power”

1. Who was right?2. How are they a function

of their times/technologies?

3. Which theory most applies today? Do any?

SHAPES OF STATES

Think advantages, disadvantages, and examples…• Micro-state• Compact• Elongated• Prorupted• Perforated• Enclave

• Fragmented• Exclave

• Landlocked

TYPES OF BOUNDARIES

Think advantages, disadvantages, and examples…• Physical• Water, mountains, etc.

• Cultural• Geometric• Religious• Linguistic• Others…• Antecedent• Super-imposed boundary• Satellite states• Relict

INTERNAL POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Geographic power distribution: Think advantages, disadvantages, and examples…• Unitary- central government makes laws for the

entire nation and gives local governments only limited power and authority ►Great Britain, Japan and France

• Federal System- gives the national government certain powers and reserves others for the states ►United States, India, Mexico, Russia

• Confederation- smaller political units keep their sovereignty and give the central government very limited powers►Articles of Confederation, United Nations, European Union

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY

How is representation determined in our system?• Legislative—districts and states• Executive—electoral college

as of 2013 (based on 2010 Census data)

15

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY

• Apportionment• At-large• 435 members of

Congress (1911)• 1:710,000 people (2010

Census)—34,000 (in 1790)• Montana—994,000 vs.

694,000 in GA, 527,000 in RI• Redistricting• Responsibility of state

legislatures—problem?• Compact, Contiguous,

Congruent, Equity

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY• Malapportionment (refusal to

redistrict)• UK— Rotten/pocket borough• Reform Act of 1832

• US—• Baker v. Carr (TN,1962), urbanization• Wesberry v. Sanders (GA,1964), “one

man one vote”—equal district representation

• Gerrymandering (manipulating district lines)• Wasted vote, excess vote, stacked

vote• Partisan, Racial (ruled unconst.)

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY2000 Census 2010 Census

18

U.S. congressional districts covering Travis County Texas (outlined in red) In 2003, Republicans in the Texas legislature redistricted the state, diluting the voting power of the heavily Democratic county.

19

The unusual "earmuff" shape of the 4th Congressional District of Illinois connects two Hispanic neighborhoods while remaining narrowly tracing Interstate 294.

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY

• Electoral College• Indirect System• Historical Explanation

• Free Agents or Party Agents?• Senate + House of

Reps (538)• 270 is the magic

number• 2012 • Landslide…or was it?• Look at all that red??

Maps are for the 2012 election

According to # of electoral votes

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY• Electoral College• Problems:• Popular vote winner does

not always win • Bush vs. Gore (2000)

• Faithless electors • House tiebreaker• “Every Vote Counts” or

does it?• ie. Georgia vs. Swing

States• Alternatives?• Maine Method• California Plan• Constitutional Amendment

Candidate Popular Vote Electoral Vote

Barack Obama 65,917,258 51.01% 332 61.7%

Mitt Romney 60,932,235 47.15% 206 38.3%

Gary Johnson 1,275,893 0.99% 0 0.0%

Jill Stein 469,016 0.36% 0 0.0%

Other 637,558 0.49% 0 0.0%

Georgia ResultsMitt Romney 2,078,688 53.30% 16Barack Obama 1,773,827 45.48% 0

SUPRANATIONALISM

• Why do IGO’s (Intergovernmental Organizations) exist?• Not new…• Delian League (478 BCE), Hanseatic League (13th Cent.)

• Global vs. Regional• Types?• Economic• NAFTA, OPEC, World Trade Organization

• Political• Organization of American States, the Organization of African Unity, British

Commonwealth of Nations, Arab League• Military• NATO, Warsaw Pact, Rome-Berlin Axis

• Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO’s)• International Red Cross/Crescent, Green Peace, Doctors Without

Borders

OPEC

NATO

ORIGIN OF THE UNITED NATIONS• Where did the idea for

the UN come from? • 1945

• What was its original purpose? • What was the League

of Nations? • How did it form the

foundation of the United Nations?

• What are the differences?

UNITED NATIONS MEMBERS

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY• Who belongs?• 192 Members• 2/3’s required to make

decisions• What Powers?• Discuss

issues/problems• Pass resolutions• Votes for membership

election, suspend/admit members, budgetary matters

UN SECURITY COUNCIL• Who belongs?• 15 members (9 out of 15

required to pass resolutions)

• 5 Permanent Veto Nations (US, Russia, UK, France and China)

• 10 Non-permanent elected • What Powers?• Investigates disputes, pass

resolutions, can call for economic or military action

UN SECRETARIAT

• Secretariat• day to day operations,

taking orders from the UN members

• Secretary General• Ban Ki-moon• Continent Rotation

• Peacekeepers

DESCRIBE THE BASIC ORGANIZATION• International Court of Justice

(ICJ)• Settles legal disputes between

countries, ruling is binding• Economic and Social Council

(ECOSOC)• Intended to improve living

standards• UNESCO, ILO, FAO, WHO, World

Bank• UN Declarations: • Human Rights, Genocide

Convention, Law of the Seas, Earth Summit

EUROPEAN UNIONParliament (Brussels)

EU Embassy (Washington, DC)

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU)?

• 1951—Sought economic cooperation to prevent a repeat of a conflict like World War II (European Coal and Steel Community—Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and West Germany)

• 1967—European Community (EC) promoted further economic cooperation (12 members), also managed nuclear energy production

• 1993—Maastricht Treaty the EU has been expanding into other policy areas such as the environment, education, security, foreign policy, immigration and crime

EUROPEAN UNION: MEMBER STATES (28)

Austria (1995) Belgium (1952) Bulgaria (2007)Croatia (2013)Cyprus (2004) Czech Republic (2004) Denmark (1973) Estonia (2004) Finland (1995) France (1952) Germany (1952) Greece (1981) Hungary (2004) Ireland (1973) Italy (1952)

Latvia (2004) Lithuania (2004) Luxembourg (1952) Malta (2004) Netherlands (1952) Poland (2004) Portugal (1986) Romania (2007) Slovakia (2004) Slovenia (2004)Spain (1986) Sweden (1995) United Kingdom (1973)

WHO CAN JOIN THE EU?

• To join a country must meet a list of criteria:• Stable democratic government• Good human rights

record• Sound economic policy• Willing to adopt all EU regulations and laws

Candidate Countries Iceland Montenegro Serbia FYR of Macedonia Turkey Potential Candidates Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo

EURO

EU: BASIC FACTS

• “Political Center”/HQ: Brussels• Area: 4.3 million sq km (US: 9.8 million sq km)• France, Spain, UK, Germany

• Population: 504 million (US: 314 million)• Germany, France, Italy, UK

• GDP $15.48 trillion (US: $15.08 trillion)• Per capita GDP $34,100 (US: $48,300)

• Life Expectancy 79.76 years (US: 78.49 years)

IGO RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Global or Regional2. What is the purpose of the organization?• Type: Economic, Political, Military

3. What states are members?4. What areas of sovereignty do member states

sacrifice in return for membership?5. What role do you see this IGO playing in the

future? How do you think this IGO will change the nature of member/nonmember states?